Base of a medieval bone skate: c.early 11th century

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Base of a medieval bone skate. This skate has been worn flat and shiny through use. The front of the skate has been shaped to a point. In 1173 William FitzStephen described how Londoners went skating on polished bone skates like this when the marsh known as the Moor or Moorfields, on the north of the city, froze in winter. "When the great marsh which washes the northern walls of the city freezes, crowds of young men go out to play on the ice. Some of them fit shinbones of cattle on their feet, tying them round their ankles. They take a stick with an iron spike in their hands and strike it regularly on the ice, and are carried along as fast as a flying bird or a bolt from a catapult."